


I was drifting over the waves when you found me (and threw me a lifeline)

by FiresFromOurHearts



Series: Uncharted Waters [13]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Being a good teacher, Gen, Genin Teams, Reincarnation, Sarutobi Hiruzen makes mistakes, Teaching, Team as Family, Uzushiogakure | Hidden Eddy Village, teacher
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-13 14:07:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29777292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FiresFromOurHearts/pseuds/FiresFromOurHearts
Summary: It starts with Toru and his team coming back three days late from the ANBU too-long period, coming back with torture wounds. The Sandaime Hokage sees this and thinks. Thinks about another boy, too young and too ruined by the world. He thinks of geniuses and the way they fall and fracture and turn sharp, jagged shards inward on themselves. He pulls Toru’s file, reads his missions, and says enough is enough. He disbands the ANBU team without letting anyone say no.(He does not see the way Toru relaxes, the way he grows in leaps and bounds, the way he grins and smiles and laughs, the way he is happier, the way he leans into his ANBU teammates without fear or worry or stress; he does not try to see.)
Relationships: Original Character(s) & Original Character(s), Uchiha Sasuke & Uzumaki Naruto & Original Character(s)
Series: Uncharted Waters [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1875832
Kudos: 23





	I was drifting over the waves when you found me (and threw me a lifeline)

Jakkaru is with ANBU for just over six months before things go wrong. It’s ANBU and their first mission is a mess, but Jakkaru warms to Kyatapirā and Ibisu and listens to Eruku and finds himself settling into a world he’d somehow missed.

But good things do not last forever and the ending is in sight.

It starts with Jakkaru and his team coming back three days late after what even the ANBU consider to be too long. And they have torture wounds, all of them. The Sandaime Hokage sees this and thinks.

He thinks about another boy, too young and too ruined by the world. He thinks of geniuses and the way they fall and fracture and turn sharp, jagged shards inward on themselves. He pulls Toru’s file, reads his missions, and says that enough is enough. He disbands the ANBU team without letting anyone says no.

_(The Sandaime Hokage does not see the way Toru relaxes, the way he grows in leaps and bounds, the way he grins and smiles and laughs, the way he is happier, the way he leans into his ANBU teammates without fear or worry or stress. He does not try to see this and just sees the ghosts of the pasts standing where others stand.)_

So Jakkaru retires from ANBU with just over six months in the force. He retires, no one standing beside him, and waits outside of the Academy for Naruto and Sasuke to finish. He’s promoted to jōnin, but without a team and without friends. He’s untethered, floating in limbo.

What is he meant to do? He’s just Toru, once again. But now he doesn’t have his genin team to lean on as they’re working on their own careers, and he doesn’t have an ANBU team either. He can’t even go see them, not when they live in ANBU HQ.

But one cannot say that the Sandaime Hokage is without foresight. He earned his legends, brought up a team even if they fell apart in the end, and has been given the Hokage seat twice over.

Academy graduation comes around, with them a new host of genin teams and jōnin teachers—among them, Toru.

Toru who is young and barely a few years older than the Academy students he’s been given, _(and he doesn’t remember being this young)_. Toru who doesn’t think he knows how to teach even though he’s been doing it for a while. Toru who’s an Uchiha and knows that people whisper about him and his sudden rise to jōnin.

But, even as jōnin teacher, Toru cannot escape from politics. He is Toru Uchiha, Clan Head of the Uchiha Clan, and that means he is not handed a handful of civilian-born kids. There is Yori Akimichi, Noburu Kumagai, and Masami Hyūga. Even before meeting them, Toru reads their files.

Yori Akimichi is praised for his taijutsu but lacks diligence in other areas. He’s an average student, only remaining in the top quarter of students due to his taijutsu skills and knowledge that he’s taught due to being part of a clan. He’s expected to remain in the Chūnin Corps for much of his career, after being promoted having served at least five years in the Genin Corps.

Noburu Kumagai is in the lower quarter of the class. His physical work is excellent but his academic work is a mess. The expectation is that he will only ever be in the Genin Corps, never proceeding higher up the chain.

Masami Hyūga is right between the two. As a Hyūga, their taijutsu work is exceptional, but they have shown signs of being even better in genjutsu though haven’t appeared to try in that area. The expectation is that they’ll end up in the Chūnin Corps.

They’re good students, average students, and Toru has no idea what to do with them. When they see him, they don’t seem to know what to make of him either. Like what his genin sensei did, Toru takes them up to the roof and introduces himself. Then waits for them to introduce themselves.

And waits. And waits some more.

After a few minutes, Noburu slowly introduces himself. Mentions his name. His skills. His dream. Realising what’s going on, Yori is quick to do the same, and then Masami does it.

Then Toru asks a question that should have been asked to them much earlier, “What do you want to do?”

“Be a jōnin,” Yori answers immediately.

Toru narrows his eyes. “Why? Why do you want to be a jōnin? You don’t have to have a reason, but you won’t get far if you don’t have a proper reason.”

Blinking in surprise, Yori slowly says, “Because… it’s expected of me?”

“Not a good reason, but at least you know why you’re here,” Toru says nodding. “Your homework for the next month is to consider why you want to be jōnin and come up with _your_ reason. Not your clan’s reason or what you’ve always been told. But why you want to do this. Noburu-kun, go.”

Noburu shrugs. “I want to be able to provide for my family,” he says. “That’s all the reasoning I have. It’s easier to be educated as a ninja than getting the education needed for half the jobs that civilians work. Plus, this way I can help keep the village safe.”

For a few heartbeats, Toru just stares at Noburu before nodding. “You know what you want, good. Now I want you to figure out what you’re aiming for as a ninja—whether it be a rank or a skill or a specialist position. Same timeframe as what I said for Yori’s.”

“Which was?”

“Due next month,” Toru answers promptly. “Next time though, try to remember what I tell your teammates as well you. You are a team. You will work together and you will train together and, when you are together, I am talking to you as a team. Understood?” Silence rules. “I said, understood?”

“Hai!”

Toru smiles, relaxing his body language, “Good. Masami-san, same question for you now.”

“I want to make chūnin,” Masami says. “As it is expected of me, and I then want to spend the required five years in the corps before retiring. My goal is to survive.”

A branch Hyūga, if Toru recalls correctly, though such things don’t matter much. “My advice for you is then to drop out now,” he says. “If you don’t want to be a ninja, you will not survive. This is not something you should be forced into. This is not something you pass through unscathed. It might be expected for you to be a ninja, but you do not have to be one. If you need, I can claim to have decided you were unfit to serve and I can help you find a place to live and a job, should you need it. For now, your homework is to decide whether you want to be a ninja or whether you’d prefer to quit. Same timeframe as the others.”

Masami frowns, but ducks their head.

“In that case, congratulations you’re now a genin team under myself. I know it’s going to be awkward since we are close in age, but I have a few more years of experience than you and have been working around the village for a while now. If you have questions for me or on another topic, please reach out. I am here to teach you and that is going to be my ultimate aim. For now, I would like to explore your strengths and weaknesses. Follow me to Training Ground 6.”

In a month, Masami will tell Toru—with no doubt in their voice—that they want to remain a ninja. That they want to be a jōnin because Toru thinks they might be able to manage it. Specifically, they want to be part of the search and rescue teams. A speciality that few manage to achieve, but a special position that is needed far too often. Toru says he will do his best to help them achieve it—and that he thinks they can do it.

In a month, Noburu will tell Toru that he wants to be a chūnin but isn’t sure what else he wants to do. He will also add that his teammates have helped him with academic work that Toru’s been setting as homework. Toru will tell him that they’re all completing homework that most genins would be incapable of.

In a month, Yori will admit that he wants to get into ANBU because he wants to do well as a ninja and wants to take on those hard missions. Toru will say he can manage if he tries, but that ANBU will break him before making him stronger.

In a year, all three genins will graduate to chūnins and Toru will wish them luck and remind them that he is always available if they need help. But before then, Sora and Souma will find Toru and become proper friends with him. Before then, Naruto and Sasuke will meet Toru’s genin team. Before then, Toru will laugh and smile and grin at the world and people around him.

Team Toru will be disbanded after one year. It will be his first team, his first success, and it will not be his last. Toru goes on to take aboard two more teams. Of those six members, two will decide that they don’t want to be a ninja and the rest will continue. Of the four remaining, one will decide to remain in the Genin Corps, one will decide to join the hospital, and the other two will be promoted further up the ranks.

And then Toru will wonder if he wants to be a jōnin sensei or if he wants to do something else instead. With Sora and Souma, now retired from ANBU, he’ll begin a program that helps teaches those who want to learn in the genin corps. As a result, at least a quarter of the genins are promoted to chūnin. Many more survive missions that would otherwise kill them.

Jakkaru died when the Sandaime Hokage retired him. But Toru did not. Toru teaches and teaches and teaches and watch the world change around him. When Naruto and Sasuke graduate, Toru is already standing beside them and teaching. Kakashi’s lax teaching is rectified from the beginning, and this time Team Kakashi don’t venture into the Land of Waves alone.

Time continues, as it always does. Team Kakashi pass the Chūnin Exams. Otogakure and Sunagakure attack. Naruto is attacked by Itachi and Sasuke is there, and Toru drops by and brings him back.

_(Then he goes to Uzushio, because he always will, because Uzushio is his. People will miss him and this time he will not be forgotten. This time he will not go away without warning, leaving only goodbye letters in his stead. This time he will tell people where he plans to go, though not what he plans to do. And, when Uzushio rises, she will have Konoha standing at her side already.)_

**Author's Note:**

> Hiruzen is far from perfect and he makes mistakes, even when trying to do the right thing. He cannot help but look at Toru and see someone else. 
> 
> I honestly don't have much to say for this, but I hope you enjoyed!


End file.
